Social cohesion is building communities with shared values enabling people to have the realisation that they are engaged in common enterprise for the good the whole group The Montessori environment, with its mixed ages and freedom of choice within limits, fosters participation in society. (Boehnlein, Kahn)

“…this unity born among the children, which is produced by a spontaneous need, directed by an unconscious power, and vitalized by a social spirit, is a phenomenon needing a name, and I call it ‘cohesion in the social unit.’” (Montessori, Maria, The Absorbent Mind, pp 211-216) “Goodness must come out of reciprocal helpfulness, from the unity derived from spiritual cohesion. This society created by cohesion, which children have revealed to us, is at the root of all social organizations.” (Montessori, Maria, The Absorbent Mind, p. 220)